I just finished reading this absolutely incredible book of the escape of a North Korean girl, initially to China, then to South Korea, and finally toI just finished reading this absolutely incredible book of the escape of a North Korean girl, initially to China, then to South Korea, and finally to the United States. She had to face so very many horrendous obstacles on her path to freedom, I had to keep reminding myself that the book is non-fiction. It gives the reader a pretty clear idea of why the North Koreans are like they have become over the last 60 or so years of fanatical dictatorship. I highly recommend this amazing story....more

Nevil Shute's novel ORDEAL was published in 1939. I don't know exactly when during that year that it came out in comparison to the fact the England deNevil Shute's novel ORDEAL was published in 1939. I don't know exactly when during that year that it came out in comparison to the fact the England declared war against Germany on September 3, 1939, but it seems a safe assumption that he had written most if not all of the book prior to that declaration-of-war date. In light of that, the novel was incredibly prophetic with regard to how what came to be known as World War II affected England.

Peter Corbett was a solicitor in southern England near the town of Southampton. He and his wife Jean led a fairly quiet life in their modest home with their three small children. They had a small sailing yacht which they kept at Hamble and which they very much enjoyed periodic day sailing to the Isle of Wight and other ports in the south of England.

In the middle of one very cloudy and rainy night they began to hear far off loud noises which steadily grew louder. They soon came to realize that their part of England was being bombed severely. They huddled together, very scared, in what they thought to be the safest part of their house. When bombing had finally ceased and it became light enough to investigate outside, they were shocked beyond belief at the damage which had been inflicted by the bombing. All the windows in almost all the houses in their area were shattered and the rain had poured in, causing a great deal of secondary damage. The power was off in a major part of the whole area, but that soon came to be a comparatively easily resolved problem. The much more critical issue soon came to be to water situation. More specifically, the damage to the sewers caused by the bombing was not easily repairable at all, especially with the continued bombed that took place. Lack of a proper sewage system very quickly led to outbreaks of cholera and typhoid.

Peter soon came to learn that the bombers from an unnamed enemy, but obviously Germany, would only come to do their dirty work on cloudy, rainy nights during which they would fly and drop their bombs within the clouds without aiming other than having a general idea of location just before they dropped into the clouds. They were not trying to bomb specific targets, just harass the civilian population.

After the first night, Peter with advice from neighbors decided to dig a trench in his backyard and park his car above it. This was better in some respects than staying in the house because it provided more protection. However, it was not very pleasant for the family of five to be in the small trench when it was full of rainwater and very muddy. Peter and Jean decided they would be better off on their small yacht. After some hassle getting through the cholera quarantine restrictions, they made it to their yacht. Again this was better in some respects and a good bit worse in others. At first they seemed to be well away from the continued bombing, but the great difference in tides left them either unable to get to their vessel or get off of it through the tidal mud flats for substantial parts of the day. They decided to sail to the Isle of Wight but were prevented from landing because they could not obtain a clean bill of health, since they would be coming from a cholera area, without going through a several week restriction in a quarantine area. They seemed to be turned aside with every effort they made.

Peter was anxious to sign up for the war effort, hopefully getting a commission in either the army or the navy. However, his overriding first concern was to get his wife and three children to a place of safety. They began thinking that Jean and the kids would be safest to go to Toronto, Canada to live with Peter's sister but couldn't come up with a workable plan to get them there until a series of unusual circumstances open the door of possibility for that plan to come about.

As I said to begin with, this 1939 novel was amazingly prophetic in painting an author's idea of what might happen and having it mirror so amazing well, at least as far as the bombing of England was concerned, the actual occurrences several years later.

Nevil Shute is an excellent author. I add this one as another of his that I highly recommend to readers....more

Peter Marshall is a WWII bomber pilot. He and his crew have a superb record of success in a very large number of raids over Germany. After falling inPeter Marshall is a WWII bomber pilot. He and his crew have a superb record of success in a very large number of raids over Germany. After falling in love with WAAF Officer Gervase Robertson and proposing to her, she turns him down saying that her professional wartime responsibilities must take precedence over what she might feel for him. This rejection causes him concentration to slip with a resulting decrease in his efficiency as a pilot and friction with his crew.

Peter makes an unusual offer to Gervase to hopefully settle matters between them as well as improve matters with his crew.

This was another dandy Nevil Shute book. I recommend it to his fans....more

MYSTERIOUS AVIATOR is a fairly good tale of a crash landing in the 1920's English countryside of a down-on-his-luck English aviator Maurice Lenden, whMYSTERIOUS AVIATOR is a fairly good tale of a crash landing in the 1920's English countryside of a down-on-his-luck English aviator Maurice Lenden, who had been returning after a spying mission for the Russians. As fate would have it he is picked up by an old friend Peter Moran, who was is the same WWI flying squadron with him. Peter is now the agent for an English Lord and the manager for the lord's manor located near the crash site.

Peter nurses Maurice back to health and soon learns the whole story of what drove Maurice to be spying for the Russians. The tale becomes more involved when the Russians send another spy flight over England to get the photographs that Maurice failed to return with. The second aeroplane is shot down and the pilot killed. The Russians come after and steal Maurice's photographic plates once they learn they survived his crash. In the meantime Peter has convinced Maurice of the error of his ways in the spying to the point that Maurice sets off on a deadly chase into Italy to recover then destroy the plates. Finally, Peter decides that he must make a harrowing effort to assist Maurice.

I have become a Nevil Shute junkie, since this is about.the 10th of his books I have read in a row. I do very much recommend this book for all Nevil Shute fans....more

Grant Blackwood clearly has the knack for continuing the Jack Ryan, Jr. series begun by Tom Clancy before his death. DUTY AND HONOR wasn't the best ofGrant Blackwood clearly has the knack for continuing the Jack Ryan, Jr. series begun by Tom Clancy before his death. DUTY AND HONOR wasn't the best of the series, but it was quite good and filled with continuous suspense and action.

There is an attempt on Jack's life by an obvious professional for no apparent reason. Jack has to follow very tenuous threads to find out who is responsible. Since he is in a sort of self-imposed sabbatical status from his Campus teammates and therefore does not have his usual backup resources, Jack is initially on his own. Along the way he picks up two partners who are involved in different aspects of the growing puzzle of intrigue. The first is Effrem, a young journalist on the trail of a story which he is sure will earn him a Pulitzer Prize. The second is Rene, a French soldier who has been kidnapped and brain-washed, but who later escaped. The action takes them to many diverse locations, including Switzerland and Namibia, before they are finally able to figure out what is going on and can confront the "bad guys."

A very enjoyable addition to the Jack Ryan, Jr. series. I do recommend it....more

In this 6th volume of the Clifton Chronicles the family saga of the Chiltons and the Barringtons continues in exciting fashion.

A suicide note read atIn this 6th volume of the Clifton Chronicles the family saga of the Chiltons and the Barringtons continues in exciting fashion.

A suicide note read at a trial in a libel case mixes things up to an embarrassing and uncomfortable level for many.

Harry Clifton has an extremely unusual accomplishment in having two books atop the New York Times Best Seller list at the same time: his own fiction book as well as the non-fiction book about Joseph Stalin which he co-authored with a political prisoner held by the Soviets in Siberia. He is dedicated to somehow forcing the Soviets to release the prisoner.

Giles Barrington has to decide whether to remain in politics or to withdraw to rescue his lover from behind the Berlin Wall. The families face lots of other challenges, both business-related as well as personal.

I enjoyed this book quite a lot, and I think others who have read the previous offerings in this series will also. I recommend it on that basis....more

PILOTAGE is a semi-continuation of author Nevil Shute's initial fiction offering STEPHEN MORRIS. PILOTAGE begins with the protagonist Peter Dennison hPILOTAGE is a semi-continuation of author Nevil Shute's initial fiction offering STEPHEN MORRIS. PILOTAGE begins with the protagonist Peter Dennison having been turned down on his request to marry his girlfriend, because he plans to immediately accept a new job in Hong Kong. She tells his that it is only because she does not want to move to China when it is really because she does not believe he will be happy there at all and is only going there because the higher pay will allow him to afford to marry. The latter part of that is true.

After being spurned Peter immediately decides to take off alone on his small sailing vessel for a week or 10 days. Soon after leaving port, he is accidently run down and somewhat injured be a much larger vessel. The owner of this large sailing yacht Sir David Fisher feels responsible enough for the mishap that while he is getting Peter's vessel repaired, he invites Peter to recuperate on board his vessel. This leads directly to Peter becoming involved in what was then in the early 1920's a seemingly outlandish scheme to fly halfway across the Atlantic Ocean after having been catapulted from the deck of an ocean liner. The whole idea was to prove the viability of this means of faster communication.

The book was actually a novella and because of its fairly brief length it was unable to develop the characters fully. However, it was enjoyable and was a very interesting look at the very primitive state of aviation at this stage of its development. I enjoyed it a good bit....more

Stephen Morris was Nevil Shute's first literary effort in the form of a work of fiction. It is actually described as a novella due to its relatively sStephen Morris was Nevil Shute's first literary effort in the form of a work of fiction. It is actually described as a novella due to its relatively short length of just over 100 pages. However, it is more accurately the first half of duel novellae, in that it is continued in the companion short novel called Pilotage.

Stephen Morris, the character, in Stephen Morris the novella is young man who came out of World War I as quite a good pilot and who wants to break into the technical part of the aviation industry which is just beyond its infancy in the very early 1920's. Stephen has had to take a job in the rubber industry. Although it is not what he wants, it will be sufficient to support a family, so he has asked his girl to marry him. Very shortly thereafter, this job folds, and he is out of work. With no prospects for employment, he backs out of the plan to marry.

Every aspect of the aviation industry is struggling mightily just to remain in business. They continue to struggle in reach what they are sure will be a bright future not too many years down the road. Stephen soon lucks into some employment as a 3rd pilot in a aeroplane joy-riding concern. The future is not very bright with this, but he lucks into a contact with a design company. Sure that he can prove his worth, he talks his way into an unpaid position for several months. He is very hopeful he will soon become a regular employee and then be able to again ask his girl to marry him.

This book was published in 1923, and is a most interesting look at the status of the nascent aviation industry at that time. It is also gives a good view of the beginning of Nevil Shute's earliest literary effort in fiction. I enjoyed it fairly well. It does end quite abruptly, but it proceeds immediately into its follow up novella - Pilotage - with which it is published as a single volume....more

This novel by Nevil Shute was a bit of a strange one for him. That is partially explained by the fact that it was one of his earliest - his third, I tThis novel by Nevil Shute was a bit of a strange one for him. That is partially explained by the fact that it was one of his earliest - his third, I think.

Malcolm Stevenson is at age 38 the very wealthy owner of a shipbuilding business in very early 1930's England. Other than being immersed in this business, he is a very lonely man who drinks way too much. While returning home from a trip after a round of such drinking, he has what appears to be a very bad accident from which he barely recovers. He has no clear recollection of how his car wreck happened. As the story proceeds, he discovers the "accident" was anything but accidental and involves a conspiracy with national implications of a very significant nature. He meets a beautiful hostess in a dancing hall which he visits and soon learns of her very indirect role, through the actions of her brother, in the conspiracy. He becomes involved further with the girl in his effort to assist a police investigation and soon falls in love with her.

I'm glad I read this book, but it is probably the least favorite of all the many Nevil Shute novelty I've read. I can only give it a weak recommendation....more

Slide Rule is Nevil Shute Norway's autobiography about his early years as an aeronautical engineer. It only briefly touches on his sometimes parallelSlide Rule is Nevil Shute Norway's autobiography about his early years as an aeronautical engineer. It only briefly touches on his sometimes parallel career as author Nevil Shute.

The first half of the book covers his involvement during the late 1920's up to 1930 in a very exciting venture in which England sought to develop its own aeroship along the lines of the success of the German Zeppelins. The development was set up in the form of a competition in which one aeroship would be designed and built on a private-industry capitalist approach and the other through a government-initiated Air Ministry organization. Nevil Shute Norway was the chief designer and a primary project manager of the capitalist team. It was quite interesting to follow the respective ups and downs of each team as they brought their finished products to completion. The final test prior to acceptance of which team had won was a successful round-trip from England to Canada for the capitalist team and to India for the government team.

In the second half of the book Mr. Norway continues his description of his non-author working years as he details his involvement in starting up an aeroplane manufacturing business from its beginnings as merely an idea through all of its "teething problems" of both the constant effort required to obtain sufficient financing and frequent re-design issues that had to be overcome to create a successful final product. This was an indepth look at the birth and maturing of a very significant business from its beginnings during the 1930's depression until it was sold as a highly successful and integral part of England's WWII war effort to become a major division of a much bigger competitor.

I have been a very big fan of author Nevil Shute since I read A TOWN LIKE ALICE many years ago. I have very much enjoyed reading and many times re-reading almost all of his novels. This autobiographical offering of his life as Nevil Shute Norway was of particular interest. It was so very easy to see how he developed the material for his fiction from his real-world experience in the normal working world. For some, particularly those who are not already Nevil Shute fans, this sometimes overly detailed recounting of his experiences might become a bit tedious. But, for true fans of his fiction, I recommend it very much....more

Phillip Stenning is flying an assignment for his company in 1920's England, when his aeroplane accidentally crashes in a field, leaving him injured anPhillip Stenning is flying an assignment for his company in 1920's England, when his aeroplane accidentally crashes in a field, leaving him injured and trapped in the cockpit. He is sure he is going to die after several unsuccessful attempts to free himself. As he is about to give up hope, he is rescued from almost certain death by Denis Compton. Compton turns out to be an escaped prisoner who was sent to prison after being framed by his Italian half-brother. Phillip feels obligated to assist Compton avoid recapture until after he can prove his innocence. Things get really involved from that point forward with Phillip having to deal with issues involving smuggling, murder, and other similar issues.

This was Nevil Shute's first novel, published originally in the mid-1920's. It was fairly good but not nearly as well written as the many others of his that I have read. I enjoyed it fairly well but can give it only a luke-warm recommendation....more

From a humble beginning when he is 14 years old working as a clown in an aerial circus, Tom Cutter soon learnsAnother wonderful novel by Nevil Shute.

From a humble beginning when he is 14 years old working as a clown in an aerial circus, Tom Cutter soon learns everything about maintaining the airplanes and eventually to fly them. During World War II he finds himself working as a civilian in Egypt helping keep all the British airplanes flying.

Following the war he has saved enough to buy a small Fox-Moth airplane. After this purchase and with his recently acquired knowledge of "the East," Tom begins a cargo service based as Bahrain in the Arabian Sea. From this most humble beginning of his doing all the flying, all the aircraft maintenance, and all the bookkeeping, Tom soon finds that he has much more business than he can handle alone.

He begins to expand by acquiring several more airplanes and a number of new employees. He is able to keep his rates and associated costs quite low by hiring only well chosen Asiatics whose needs and required salary are much lower than what a similarly qualified European would be.

In the beginning he flew cargo only within a couple of hundred miles of Bahrain. This evolves into flying thousands of miles from Bahrain, as far as Bali in southern Indonesia on as much as 9 or 10 day assignments for oil companies and others.

Tom's business takes some interesting turns as the years go by.

This was a most enjoyable book. I most heartily recommend this fun read....more

I have read this novel under it earlier published title RUINED CITY. This seems to me to be a MUCH MORE apt title than KINDLING.

Henry Warren is a highI have read this novel under it earlier published title RUINED CITY. This seems to me to be a MUCH MORE apt title than KINDLING.

Henry Warren is a highly successful and well respected London banker and financier. He becomes extremely ill and, totally by chance, ends up in a hospital in Sharples, England, where he has an operation and faces several weeks recuperative time. Because of his unkempt appearance and the fact that his wallet had been stolen, he is assumed to be among the many out-of-work men of the area. While he is, in fact, quite wealthy, he initially maintains the fiction that he is unemployed, so that he can quietly observe the status of this very economically depressed town and get an insight into how the local citizens are faring following the closing of the local shipyard, rolling mills, and mine five years previous.

Henry is a workaholic whose marriage is failing. He has all the economic success he needs and with no interest in being at home, since his wife is always off somewhere else, he is searching for other interests to occupy his endless energies and to which he can apply his financial talents. He feels that he may have found it and soon sets as his goal revitalizing the town of Sharples and putting it back on its economic feet by re-opening the shipyard and perhaps the other closed up industries in order to get the local people back to work.

Re-opening the shipyard is a monumental but not insurmountable task which involves, first of all, obtaining an initial order for the construction of several ships and the associated financing involved. Henry's solution to this is to get this order as an integral part of some other business with which he is involved from the fictional Balkan county of Laetevia. The very involved negotiations begin among diverse parties all based on Henry's very strong desire to see the Sharples economic well being is restored to where it once was.

This book is another offering from one of my very favorite authors - Nevil Shute. I very much enjoyed my re-reading of this most interesting book and highly recommend it....more

Stanton Laird is a young man who got in some trouble as a youth but overcame it quite well. He went on to become a successful geologist for an oil comStanton Laird is a young man who got in some trouble as a youth but overcame it quite well. He went on to become a successful geologist for an oil company. This necessitated his leaving his much-loved, small hometown in eastern Oregon.

Following a 3-year assignment of oil exploration in Saudi Arabia, he goes next to a similarly desolate assignment trying to locate oil in the very sparsely populated area in the northern part of of West Australia on a million-acre sheep station. Here he falls deeply in love with a beautiful girl from a very strange family. He asks Mollie Regan to marry him. Her family likes Stanton, but her mother stipulates that they not get get married or even formally engaged until Mollie has journeyed for a stay of 3 months to his hometown of Hazel, Oregon to get to know his parents and to learn about America firsthand.

I enjoyed this book quit a lot, as I have all the Nevil Shute novels I have read or re-read in many cases. He is a novelist from the 1920's until his death in 1960. Several of his books have been made into movies. His style of writing may be a little out of date for the taste of some readers, but I think he is terrific. I recommend this book on that basis....more

I just finished reading this fantastic story of a never-say-die naval officer who not only survived an extremely traumatic injury when his ship was toI just finished reading this fantastic story of a never-say-die naval officer who not only survived an extremely traumatic injury when his ship was torpedoed, but who waged a one-man battle against the Japanese on the enemy-infested island on which he found himself marooned in 1943 during WWII....more

A most interesting telling of the events surrounding the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 celebrating the 400th anniversary of the discovery of North AmerA most interesting telling of the events surrounding the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 celebrating the 400th anniversary of the discovery of North America by Christopher Columbus. The fair was also known az the Great Columbian Exposition. The tale of its birth from an idea by many of the best architectural minds of the day, through the tumultuous efforts required to bring it to reality, and finally its closing after a successful run is magnificent. Included in the legacy of that Exposition are such well known products / items of today as shredded wheat cereal, Cracker Jacks, the Ferris Wheel, and the Midway. it also proved an admirable demonstration of the feasibility of using alternating current and incandescent lights on a large scale basis.

While the world's fair so described above was known as The White City, "The Devil" referred to in the remainder of the book's title was Dr. H. H. Holmes, a serial killer who just happened to be conducting many of his killings in Chicago at the same time as the fair and just blocks from its location. If such a person can be said to be likeable, although in a perverted sort of way, Dr. Holmes is a prominent example. The two stories are told in alternating chapters.

I was enthralled to learn all about what it took to create this fantastic Exposition against tremendous odds of total failure. And while the information about what Dr. Holmes did was gruesome, how he went about it was unbelievable.

i would not recommend this book to all resders, but I think very many would most enjoy it....more

Unbelievable tales of the bizarre activities of the East German secret police, or Staci, during the years that The Wall surrounded East Berlin. They wUnbelievable tales of the bizarre activities of the East German secret police, or Staci, during the years that The Wall surrounded East Berlin. They went to unimaginable lengths to keep the East German people from escaping to the West and being influenced by anything associated with capitalism.

The following mind-boggling quote from this book stayed with me: "the number of files generated by the Stasi is about ‘the equivalent of all records produced in German history since the middle ages’." These files recorded the most minute details of the spying by the Staci on the everyday life of the East German people as they went about their daily routine of trying to live in such a repressive society.

I highly recommend it to those who want to increase their appreciation of what freedom really means....more

Another quick, fun read in Stuart Woods' Stone Barrington series. The novel begins with Stone purchasing a English Country Estate. He is soon faced wiAnother quick, fun read in Stuart Woods' Stone Barrington series. The novel begins with Stone purchasing a English Country Estate. He is soon faced with the problems associated with an unhappy and powerful individual seeking revenge against him and his son for alleged libelous activity against him. Of course, the plot thickens from there, but Stone is up to the task of taking care of matters. I enjoyed the book quite a lot and recommend it to all Stone Barrington fans....more

Another funny Stephanie Plum adventure involving very strange goings on at the local Animal House college fraternity, a few murders, and the possibiliAnother funny Stephanie Plum adventure involving very strange goings on at the local Animal House college fraternity, a few murders, and the possibility of the plague in Trenton, NJ. Stephanie Plum fans will enjoy it; others not so much....more

This latest offering in the Tom Clancy-Jack Ryan series from Mark Greany is really good. The Russians have declared the independence of the Baltic couThis latest offering in the Tom Clancy-Jack Ryan series from Mark Greany is really good. The Russians have declared the independence of the Baltic countries to be null and void. US President Jack Ryan Sr. has his hands full trying to restore the peace after the Russians attack Lithuania. Jack Ryan Jr. and his fellow Campus operatives are in the thick of the action also. Greany is masterful in painting his protagonists into the darkest corners imaginable. It is hard to even remotely speculate how they can successfully extract themselves and prevail over the forces of evil allied against them.

Excellent telling not only of the circumstances surrounding the bizarre assassination attempt on Reagan's life but also a broader biography his overalExcellent telling not only of the circumstances surrounding the bizarre assassination attempt on Reagan's life but also a broader biography his overall life with particular emphasis on the political years. I enjoyed it very much and highly recommend it to interested readers....more